Give Thanks This week we are celebrating Thanksgiving. Many people have various traditions that they have to celebrate this holiday. What do you do to show your thanks for everything you have experienced this year? Has your year been a year for which you are thankful? Maybe not? Has there been too many breakdowns and not enough loads to get you through? Has there been a medical scare that set you back or forced you out of trucking completely? Is there a way to still be thankf...

An undeniable dearth of safe and available truck parking has sat perched atop the highest ranking of concerns for truck drivers, and the overall trucking community, for years now. Only recently has the Department of Transportation (DOT) been the recipient of some much-needed federal assistance to help in creating a surplus of such parking spaces and rest areas. The Department of Transportation has recently been awarded over $30 million to go toward transportation projects for...

DETROIT, Mich. (Oct. 31, 2024) - Daimler Truck North America LLC (DTNA), the leading manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in North America, has taken another step toward decarbonizing its logistics operations by launching its first battery electric Freightliner eCascadia at its subsidiary, Detroit Diesel Corporation (Detroit), located in Redford, Michigan. The Freightliner eCascadia will be integrated into DTNA's operations at the Detroit Logistics Center located in ...

Competition I recently had a conversation with a team that drives for a trucking company other than the company that we are leased on to. They are considering switching companies. They were concerned about some negative comments about the company that they had read in another forum. I reassured them that what they had read was nothing that I had heard before. Everyone thinks that the company for which they drive is the best on the road. That is a good thing because they take ...

Preparing your truck for the upcoming winter season can be a daunting and discouraging task, but it's also something that is extremely beneficial for those who care to use their prep time wisely. Doing so can mean the difference between a major incident on a slippery road or avoiding a major shutdown because of lacking certain winter weather equipment. It would be a smart move to get out ahead of the season now, while there's still decent weather to work with. And unless you ...

Are You Ready? While driving along the interstate, the changing colors of the trees caught my eye. The yellows, oranges and reds popped between the green of the trees that have not changed yet. This got me to thinking about whether or not we are ready for the final season of the year. Winter: a season which is beautiful in its own way. Still a season that many drivers dread, if not fear. Even in the states where snow is common it seems that drivers need to relearn how to driv...

Let's be honest. I don't know that most kids, when asked what they want to be when they grow up, would respond by saying they want to be a truck driver. Please, don't take that as a slight to the profession, or to the men and women who perform such jobs. But I mean, I can remember when I was a child most of the other kids would say they wanted to be a firefighter or a doctor, or even an astronaut. Me? I wanted to be a stand-up comedian, an actor, or a professional baseball pl...

A simple "thank you" will never be enough. What can really be said to the men and women who spend hours, days, weeks, and months away from their families while keeping America's gears grinding in a forward motion? This is Driver Appreciation Week, September 15th through the 21st. It's a week where we, as the transportation industry, recognize the collective trucking and driving community as a way of saying thank you for the jobs they perform on our behalf every single day. I'...

Over twenty years ago, I began a career in television as a sports producer - a far cry from where I've found myself in recent years, working in the trucking industry in several different capacities. One of those capacities, and most recently, as the host of two different podcasts available on ExpeditersOnline.com (Industry Outlook and State of the Industry with John Elliott). In each of these instances, however, I've enjoyed both ventures and have garnered a good amount of wo...

As with anything in life, there are always going to be ups and downs. Many folks resort to the notion of rising and falling tides, you know, life's ebb and flow. Personally, and as I've learned through years of my own rising and falling, I now have a better understanding of what this mindset means. As we experience the highs in our lives, we also should be preparing for the moment when the bottom inevitably drops out from underneath us. Likewise, when we are in the midst of d...